Steam and water gauge cock



Jan. 16, 1934. MUNN 1,943,941

STEAM AND WATER GAUGE COCK Filed July 9, 1931 Patented Jan. 16, 1934 UNITED STATES STEAM AND WATER GAUGE COOK Lewis H. Munn, Birmingham, Ala.

Application July 9, 1931.

2 Claims.

This invention relates to valves and more particularly to a valve adapted to be used as a steam or water gauge cock.

One object of the invention is to provide a valve of this character so constructed that when it is in use and has been opened, water or steam may flow freely through the same and out of an escape port to indicate the height of water in a boiler and to further so construct the valve that when it is closed it will be tightly sealed and water or steam entirely prevented from passing through it.

Another object of the invention is to so form the valve that when it is opened water may I freely flow through it and to further so construct said valve that it will not be liable to become stopped up.

Another object of the invention is to provide a valve having separable inner and outer portions in each of which is mounted a closure, the inner closure being normally held in an opened position by the outer closure and adapted to be moved to a closed position when the outer portion of the valve body is disconnected from the inner portion. By this arrangement the outer portion of a valve may be removed for cleaning or repairing and since the closure carried by the inner portion will be automatically closed when the outer portion is disconnected, water or steam will be prevented from escaping from a boiler and it will not be necessary to reduce steam pressure or allow the fire to die out.

Another object of the invention is to provide a valve of this character which is simple in construction and consists of a comparatively few number of parts all of which may be easily assembled or quickly taken apart.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a View showing the improved valve in longitudinal section, and

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

The improved gauge cock has been shown vapplied to the wall of a boiler 2 and it will be understood that a number of these cocks may be mounted in vertical spaced relation to each other so that by starting with the upper one and successively opening said gauge cooks, the level of water in a boiler may be determined. The body portion 3 of the valve or cook may be formed of any material desired having sufficient strength and is hollow and provided with a transverse diaphragm defining a chamber 4 on one side thereof and an internally threaded socket 8 on the other.

In order to connect the casing with the boiler there has been provided a nipple 7 having threaded portions 5 and 6. The threaded end. .portion 5 of the nipple is screwed into the socket Serial No. 549,739

8 of the body and the threaded portion 6 is engaged through a threaded opening 9 formed in the wall of the boiler. The nipple is provided at one end with a reduced shank which projects into the boiler and this shank is formed with side openings 10 communicating with the enlarged end portion 11 of a bore 12 formed axially through the nipple and shank. A portion of the bore is tapered as shown at 13 thereby forming a valve seat for engagement by a valve head 14. This valve extends longitudinally in the enlarged end portion 11 of the bore and is provided with a stem 15 having its forward portion projecting forwardly in the bore 12 and its rear portion snugly received in an opening 16 formed in the center of a cap 17.

This cap is screwed into the rear end portion or" the shank and not only serves to guide the valve head 14, but also serves as an abutment for one end of a spring 18 which bears against the valve head and has a tendency to move the valve longitudinally in a dir ction to seat its tapered end 19 against the tapered valve seat 13 and prevent water or steam from passing outwardly through the bore 12. 3

The outer end of the chamber 4 is closed by a cap 20 which is screwed into the chamber and carries a neck 21 which projects outwardly and is formed with a threaded bore 22 disposed in alignment with the bore 12 of the nipple '7. Through the diaphragm of the body is formed a passage 23 which registers with the bore 12 and is enlarged as shown at 24 to form a tapered valve seat for engagement by the tapered end 25 of a valve head 26 carried by a stem 27 which projects axially through the neck and has a portion enlarged and threaded as shown at 28 for engagement with the threads of the neck. The outer end portion of the neck is internally thickened to form a shoulder 29 in order to limit outward movement of the stem 27 by engagement with the enlarged portion 28 and a packing gland 30 carried by the neck serves to form a tight joint about the stem and prevent water or steam from escaping.

The inner end 31 of the stem 27 is reduced in diameter to correspond with the diameter of the stem 15 and extends through the bore 12 in order to contact with the inner end of the stem 15. Therefore when the cap 20 is in place, engagement of the inner end portion 31 of the stem 27 with the stem 15 will retain the valve 14 in the opened position shown in Figure 1 and water or steam may pass freely through the shank and nipple into the casing and out through a port 32 formed in a short spout 33 extending downwardly from the lower portion of the casing 3. Therefore it can be determined whether the level of water in a boiler is above or below the particular valve opened.

By unscrewing the cap, the valve 26 and its stem may be removed and cleaned or repaired. During unscrewing of the cap the spring 18 will move the valve 14 to a closed position and steam or hot water will be prevented from escaping from the boiler. By unscrewing the casing from the nipple both the casing and the valve carried by the cap may be thoroughly cleaned and the valve and its seat 24 reground when necessary. It should also be noted that if the nipple '7 should be broken off outside the boiler the valve 14 will close and prevent hot water and steam from escaping. The casing will preferably be formed with wrench engaging side faces and also the nipple may be formed with wrench engaging faces between its threaded ends in order that the nipple and casing may be easily screwed into place or removed.

What is claimed is:

1. A gauge cock comprising a hollow cylindrical body having an integral transverse diaphragm defining a chamber on one side thereof and an internally threaded socket on the other, the chamber being provided with a drain opening. and the diaphragm with a centrally disposed valve seat, a cap forming a closure for the chamber, a threaded nipple having one end thereof engaging the threaded walls of the socket and its other end adapted to be threaded into the wall of a boiler and terminating in a reduced slotted shank, said nipple and shank being formed with a longitudinally extending bore opening into said chamber, the shank being formed with a valve seat, a stem threaded in said cap and extending through said chamber into the bore, said stem carrying a valve head adapted to fit against the seat in the diaphragm, a second valve head slidably mounted in the bore and having a stem contacting with the adjacent end of the first mentioned stem, and a spring to move the second valve head to closed position when the first mentioned stem is moved outwardly out of contact with the stem of the second valve head.

2. A gauge cock comprising a hollow cylindrical body having an integral transverse diaphragm defining a chamber on one side thereof and an internally threaded socket on the other, the chamber being provided with a drain opening and the diaphragm with a central valve seat, a cap for closing said chamber, a threaded nipple having one end thereof engaging the threaded walls of the socket and its other end provided with a reduced slotted shank, said nipple and shank being formed with a longi tudinally extending bore opening into said chamber, the bore at said shank being enlarged to form a pocket having a valve seat, a plug closing the outer end of said pocket, a valve head in said pocket having a stem projecting from its ends, one end portion of the stem projecting into the bore and the other end of the stem being slidably engaged through the plug to guide the valve head, a spring between the plug and valve head urging the valve head toward the seat at the inner end of the pocket, a neck extending outwardly from said cap, a valve stem extending through the neck and through the chamber into the bore of the nipple to engage the first stem and hold the valve head carried thereby out of closed position, the second stem having a flange in threaded engagement with the neck and the neck having its outer portion provided with a shoulder to engage the flange and prevent the second stem from moving outwardly a Sllfl'lCiEIlt distance to permit the valve head of the first LEWIS H. MUNN. [L.S.] 

